Standard dominoes are well known in the history of gaming objects. Scarne's Encyclopedia of Games, 1st edition and published in 1973, describes dominoes as “a set comprised of 28 pieces called dominoes wherein each domino is divided by a line across its center separating the two ends. Its face looks like the two uppermost faces of a pair of dice, and each half bears the spots from one through six or is blank (without spots). The dominoes rank in value from the double six or 6-6 (12 points, high), to the double blank (0 points, low). All dominoes are valued at their sum total: 6-5 is 11 points, 4-3 is 7 points, etc.”
Scarne lists many games played with dominoes. The popularity of games utilizes dominoes lies partly in the tactile and auditory sensations of manipulating the dominoes, which are substantial in mass and smooth to the touch. Moreover, dominoes provide a satisfying clicking sound similar to casino chips. The vast majority of domino games involve placing dominoes in a predetermined fashion on a playing surface and calculating a winning point total once certain criteria have been met. Traditionally, wagering on domino games involves either a cash value per point or a fixed wager per game.
A notable exception to the traditional wagering systems is the Chinese game of Pai Gow in which a Chinese set of 32 dominoes is used. In Chinese Pai Gow, each player receives four dominoes and splits them into a high hand and low hand of two dominoes each. Each player then compares a high hand with a dealer's high hand and a low hand with the dealer's low hand. Each player wins their wager if the player wins both comparisons and loses their wager if the dealer wins both comparisons. Comparisons are conducted using a predetermined ranking scheme which is partially, but not entirely, based on the sum of the spots on each domino.
A disadvantage of the current set of domino games for the casino is that they are not readily suited for casino play. A game of traditional dominoes can take many minutes, whereas successful casino games tend to allow several wagers per minute. Another disadvantage of Chinese Pai Gow is that the rules for ranking hands are not obvious and must be memorized. Such memorization makes it very difficult for a casual casino patron to approach the game and begin playing. Therefore, Chinese Pai Gow games attract only very experienced players.